Voices from the Heart
by Hanslie
Summary: "You're so wrong, Scarlett loves you a great deal, more than she knows." In the movie, Melanie Wilkes said these words to Rhett. I couldn't help but explore these words from the great lady of the Old South. 5 months after Rhett left Scarrlett, these words kept coming back to Rhett, could these words help our hero and heroin? Reviews are highly recommended. Pls review.


Disclaimer: I don't own Gone with the Wind and its characters. Be nice and honest when reviewing pls.

Note: it has always bugged me that the ending to GWTW has no closure. I've watched the movie so many times and read the book once. Everything was quite good except the ending. I really think that it was because of an ending like that the author became quite a hit. For the last 2 months, I thought of nothing but the character flaws of our hero and heroin…so just to have a finality for myself. I wrote this fanfic. I could never be as good as any of the great writers here. It is my first time.

Chapter 1

RHETT'S RESOLVE

"You're so wrong, Scarlett loves you a great deal, more than she knows."

Rhett jolted up from his bed. Another dream. He swung both his feet to the edge of his bed and brushed through his hair with his fingers. He held his head with his hands. The words of Melanie Wilkes kept coming back to him. Could Melanie know Scarlett more than Scarlett and even Rhett himself? For the last five months, he had been so tired, so lost, so drained from everything about life and yet, as much as he wanted to forget her, he dreamt of her often and mixed with the words of Melanie Wilkes. He attempted to forget her, oh, damn it all! He had slept with a dozen women to no avail. Like an opium, his mind was intoxicated with her: her eyes, her laughs, her body, her charm. He wanted her. He desired her. He wanted her to love him with as much passion as he loved her but when she finally confessed her love to him, he rejected her…he was tired. So tired. But, he knew in the very core of his whole being, he had waited for it but he was afraid to give himself to her again. Tired of being rejected, tired of being hurt over and over again and yet, his heart, his mind and body sought her. His whole being down to the very core of his soul sought her and longed for her…

His mind went back to the day Scarlett confessed her love to him. Unlike himself, when she finally realized her feelings for him, she hadn't wasted so much time whether to tell him or not, she just admitted to him, without shame. That had been one of the charms that lured him to her. No, she had made him into a fanatic who was crazy with desire for her, it was all her fault for always thinking of nothing but Ashley and money. As much as he wanted to deny his cowardice and put all the blame on Scarlett, he had to admit that he had his own faults as a husband, he was difficult to live with. He was too afraid to admit to Scarlett he loved her, he always left her with hints she didn't understand, leaving her confused, though he knew full well that she was a fool about such things. She never understand anything when money was not the topic of her concern until all had been laid plainly for her foolish, simple mind to understand. Yes, he was a coward. What did he do and say when she told him she was expecting with his child? He insulted her and wished she had a miscarriage. He was cruel to her and he taunted her every time. He always criticized her love for money, never trying to understand that it was her security. Even if she wasn't a good mother, he exposed all her faults to her face and laughed at her mercilessly. He was a jealous cad. He wasn't patient with her obsession with Ashley Wilkes even though he knew all along before he married her. He threw into a furious temper whenever Ashley was concerned.

But not Melanie. She bore all of Scarlett's weaknesses with inner strength and grace. She knew, like himself, that what Scarlett had for her husband was a foolish fantasy she had all but made up by her childish mind. She was patient and kind to her and she truly loved her and defended her honor, unlike him. Whenever Scarlett needed him, he always run away or hid himself behind his drinks. He had believed the gossips of India Wilkes without giving Scarlett the chance to explain her side of the story. Yes, Scarlett was a child and he knew he had married a child. He had been impatient for her to grow up fast and thus, he was foolish enough to had equally done to her what she had done to him. Both of them need to grow up. Both of them were children trapped in a grown-up body.

Suddenly, Rhett lifted his face from his hands and his countenance brightened, there might be still a chance, to make amends, to give another try. Yes, he had run away many times, especially, when Scarlett poured out her feelings to him, instead of facing his inner demons like a man, he shrunk like a helpless coward who didn't know how to face his true feelings and desires. One thing for sure, for the past five months, he thought of nothing but her, he have loved her and he loves her still and he will always love her no matter what. They were meant for each other and will always be meant for each other. He will go back to her. He bolted out of his bed and took out all of his clothes out of the closet. He would pack all his things and go back to her…

Chapter 2

SCARLETT'S REFLECTION

It had been five months, Rhett said he would come back once in a while to keep her reputation intact. She believed him. Up to the very end, he thought of her and wanted to protect her from the shame of gossips. But, she was becoming impatient. She refused to believe that he had stopped loving her. He couldn't, not Rhett. He desired and loved her. That night when he was drunk, he unconsciously poured out his true feelings while making love to her and she believed every word of it. She'd got to. It was the only hope that kept her going.

She wouldn't make a point to reflect about her attitudes if it weren't for him leaving her.

She knew when he left her that day she deserved it. She had not been anything but brutal to those who love her. Especially, Melanie Wilkes. She never knew how much she loved her until she was dying. Melanie was the only person who had wholly and truly understood her short comings and temper tantrums. She also understood her fears and her obsessions with money. She was the only woman who supported her need to make money so none of them would ever be hungry again, and no one would take Tara away from her again. Though Melanie did struggle with her a little for making business with the carpetbaggers and Yankees. In the end, she quietly supported her.

Yes, she had been a bad mother to Wade and Ella. But for the past 5 months, all she had done was mending her relationship with both her son and daughter. She vowed to be a good mother to them. Rhett had always filled her loose ends, he truly loved both Wade and Ella even though all she ever did was terrorized them and being impatient and irritated with all the rackets they were making. She was now making time for them and spending every single minute to know them. She hardly knew her children she had to admit. She was surprised that Wade was starting to become a man and Ella was such a sweet and caring girl, who always yearned for her attention.

The past months had also got her to start thinking about what she had done to Suellen. No matter how desperate she was, she had never once regretted the fact that Frank was Suellen's beau and she stole him from her. No, she even thought her sister hadn't deserved the benefits from Frank's business because she would surely not help or mind anything that had got to do with Tara. Like a desperate fool, how low could she go, she didn't mind who she had stepped on to in order to have money and food to eat. She swallowed her pride and made it a point to humbly apologize to Suellen.

About Ashley, she was blinded to Rhett's love because of her imagined fantasy about Ashley. No wonder Rhett was always jealous of him. She now, understood more than anything, that no man understood and loved her than Rhett. She never understood Ashley and Rhett always knew that. Rhett knew so much about her than she knew about herself. Rhett like Melanie supported her and most of all loved her like no other when all of society shunned and criticized her for meddling with men's work. She finally realized now that Ashley was just a friend to her, a friend that was weak and needed much care.

Yes, a fool she was, she used convicts like they were not humans and hired a cruel foreman that had starved and beaten them, even when the lumber business was already making money, how dirty and corrupted had she gone down? No wonder Rhett was always correcting her but she always refused to listen whenever honor would made her lose money. Now she had a lot of money but Rhett refused to love her.

She will not give up on him, she will continue to change and when Rhett come, he will know at once that she is changing. She was such a child but she is growing now and like her mother and Melanie, she will surely and slowly become a woman of inner strength. A lady.

Chapter 3

REUNION

It was 10pm and Scarlett couldn't sleep, she strode gingerly down the long flight of stairs of her house in Atlanta. It was a house and never a home to her now. Nothing would ever be a home to her if Rhett refused her. How she longed for him. If only she wasn't so foolish and stupid to had realized too late she had loved him, always loved him. Never dreamt and desired for anyone except Rhett. She missed him so and she was hoping that she would be able to talk to him and explain herself and that she would do anything for him. A tear drop slid down her cheeks. She love him, she will love no other but him.

She carefully poured chamomile tea to her teacup. She needed to calm her agitated nerves. No more brandy or any drinks since she vowed to be a good mother and to win him back she needed to pull herself together. Only time could heal both their wounds from Bonnie's and Melanie's deaths. She was sure once time heal him, Rhett will come back to her. Yes, she was confident of this, because time had always heal her, during the times when the pain that her mother died then her father died, she had her miscarriage, then Bonnie and Melanie. Time healed her wounded heart but they were never forgotten. She had loved them all and will always loved them.

As Scarlett was reminiscing all of these, she hadn't heard the footsteps closing in on her. She just suddenly felt that a presence was in the room. She looked up, it was Rhett. Always a dandy. So strong and handsome. She stood up then carefully and slowly wrinkled her lips into a sincere smile.

"Rhett!"

Rhett bowed to her, strode toward her then took her hand and kissed it.

Scarlett hadn't dawdled time, she immediately faced him and looked into his eyes and when she saw that his eyes hadn't held any coldness for her anymore, she knew this was her chance.

"I love you, Rhett. Please give me a chance to explain myself, Rhett. I was a child and didn't know any better. I promised to change and I will do anything for you, my darling! I know now I was cruel to the people who love me most and to you, I've never took the time to think about the people who loves me until it was too late. I love you, Rhett, my darling."

"Scarlett, I was an ass for leaving you like that. I was wrong. I see both of us had a lot of growing up to do, hadn't we, my darling?"

"Oh, Rhett!"

"I love you, Scarlett, you also taught me so much about myself I didn't know. Would you promise me to love no other man but me?"

Scarlett threw her arms around him, leaned forward and kissed his lips without reserve. The kiss that promised everything, the kiss that spoke of her love and desire and devotion.


End file.
